Handing in notice after 14 years
 

Feels a bit odd really, and may cause a bit of a stir on monday, and am not too sure if i am doing the right thing but hell with it. I have been with this company since i was 20, and started the network 9 years ago with 3 pc's. We now have over 600 and spread all over the UK. It all started getting a bit too much and 65 hours a week is starting to take its toll.
So where best to start looking for IT related jobs then in the northwest ?
Anyone need a halfway there MCSE who knows exchange inside out and can hold his own with cisco and AT routers and laughs in the face of active directory ? (To have it blow up just after :roll:?

Best thing you'll do! I handed mine in after 12 years back in Feb and went alone. Two months in and I am not looking back! Loads of work but I can also have short days if the weather is nice, start late etc. Heaven.

I left staff position nigh on 25years ago.
Eeeeee them were the days.
Registered with agency and haven't looked back since. Had a stint as staffie again about 9 years ago but only stuck it for two years.
bin contracting ever since and before anyone asks about job security, being a contractor your job is nowadays probably more secure than a staffie.
I can u2u a list of agencies in and around north west if your interested. I'm currently in as account analyst/unix/database reporter in north west. And yes I agree whole heartedly with ozz, that when the weather suits you can pack up early and go for a blast. But at the same time, if the bacs doesn't go to plan then I could just as well be staying past last orders till it is sorted.

BTW CRM250, the answers Winwick....and not on any of the wards, although I did work for a while inn Newchurch mental at Culcheth.

[Edited on 16-4-2004 by guest1]

CRM,

Although not IT specific, here's a few I've been using recently.

You can enter a 'profile' and narrow your job searches down. If you wish you can have jobs that match your criteria emailed to you directly.

www.jobsite.co.uk

www.topdogjobs.com/

www.executivesontheweb.com

Good luck my friend.

don't know if this is any use to you but, - never know it might.

I work in the Education sector, - and have noticed a change in the last year within secondary, private and state schools; - where as up until then a lot of the IT/ Network managers were learning their trade within schools and then moving to the commercial sector for more money, - it is now turning the other way, - schools have started to realise that ICT is vital to their performance and so are now paying better, - and network managers are starting to realise how rewarding it can be (not just financial) to be shaping and influencing a sector of society that really can make a difference.
I have been dealing with some pretty switched on people recently, - it does take a different approach, - you have to look at delivering curriculum with IT as a tool, rather than as I believe a lot of the commercial sector is, just deliver the technology. - It does n't have to feel limiting, - I have been in schools with 900 laptops, and only this week have been having to justify why I am recomending star topology rather than a meshed network!

Hope that helps, have look around your area, le me know if you need any help, - "teacher speak" is different. :roll:

oh, MS Terminal Services, - it is the future for schools ;)

[Edited on 17-4-2004 by Ian]

I went from teaching IT to Private Sector, Banking seven years ago....never looked back as far as finances are concerened.
However, I used to get immense satisfaction from teaching - it was just a pity the Govt put such a big squeeze on funding.
Nice to see some schools changing their attitudes towards pay of tech staff.

Good on ya crm250, it's a big move. I'm an Aussie here in the UK and have been here for 2 years. I've got MCSE in NT 4 and win2k (although i've had enough to be honest ...) and left my fulltime job in Aus to bring my family over here and go contracting. I worked for Australia's premier integration company until Dimension Data came along and bought us and spent 6 months seconded to Microsoft working as a consultant. I've been contracting the whole time I've been here, took me three weeks being in the country before I was working for Accenture, stayed with them for 9 months and I've been with BP for 15 months and two weeks ago signed up for another 6 mths.

It can be stressful but it can also be very rewarding financially. You just need to do your numbers (assume you already would have seeing as you are handing in your notice) and make sure you know how long you can go without work for, understand your target market and what rates you think you can get and how low you are prepared to go if times are tough. I would also advise you to use a management company that can supply you with an IR35 friendly tax vehicle. It's worth cheking that out straight away because there are clauses that will need to be in any contract you sign.

I've always used www.jobserve.com as this seems to be the best used website that IT recruiters use. My tip would be to look on there and find a contract that looks good, send in your CV, and then call them 10 minutes later and ask to speak to the recruiter and say that you weren't sure if the CV got through or not because you have a dodgy web connection or something. Reason being is that they receive so many CV's that you need to get yours to the top so they will put you forward to their customer, otherwise you miss out.

Give me a call whenever you want - 077 9502 5018 and I'll give you whatever advice I can. Just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons and that your numbers add up.

Good luck and welcome to the world of self employed people :frog:

Cheers,

TP

[Edited on 18-4-2004 by tp-996]

I typed up my resignation letter today and handing it into the office tomorrow. It will be a shame to go but things change in life and its only a job not life :)

I have been a contractor for about 4 years and I have had ups and downs.

I recommend the jobsites:
http://www.jobserve.com/it/jobserve/homepage.asp
http://www.skillsite.co.uk
http://www.cwjobs.co.uk
http://www.theitjobboard.com/

Contracting is great for the independence and the money is generally quite good in comparison to permie roles. However you need to have a set of skills that is fairly defined, in fashion and easily pigeon-holable by recruitment consultants. Once your skills evolve more towards management / Consulting it is very difficult to fit in a defined profile and to find something. Also the contracting world is very much doing more of the same all the time with your skill set getting banalised and eventually your daily rate suffering. Also you don't feel like you are developing in the job as you are always recruited for what you know how to do and not what you have the potential to do.

For all those reasons I have decided to give up the contract world and took a good position in a Consultancy instead. So far it definitely feels like a good choice as I am being challenged into interesting projects that I would never have touched as a contractor.

Besides money-wise you get hit pretty hard by IR35 and when you calculate what's left at the end of the day, it is not necessarily that much better. All that to say that Contracting is not all the rosy stuff that people make it to be.

Phil, most of my IR35 cases end up better off due to the 5% deuction for expenses - most would be lucky to have that many!